Tomorrow is the day work begins on the kitchen & laundry! I’ve done most of the prep work but I still have a few things to get done today.

To be done today:

++ Dryer to be picked up by DS1’s friend who is upgrading from a dryer that doesn’t work well

++ Clear an L-shaped space in the garage for the contractor’s on-site storage.

++ Take the garage opener for that side out of the car so we can give it to him to come & go without coordinating with us.

++ Set up a dishwashing station on the middle deck. I need to get a couple of dishwashing bins (hoping that Sams might have them) and a flat waterproof surface for a ‘counter’ (need to look around with creativity – I’m wondering if Lowes might have some sort of mesh metal like some outdoor tabletops use). Then snake the hose to that location and I already have a dish drying rack.

++ Cook some muffins. We won’t have use of an oven for some time so I want to freeze homemade muffins. BTW, a homemade bread item is a great neighbor gift if you know someone who is renovating the kitchen! Store-bought breads cannot compare taste-wise or nutritionally.

++ Empty the last cabinet – under the sink where the dishwashing detergent and scrubbers are. Use the dishwasher for the last time(s).

++ Take the old laundry door, the basement door old hardware, and the cabinet knobs to the Habitat RebuildIt store as a donation.

Already done:

++ Biggest chore – unrouting and rerouting the internet cable from the Verizon box across the garage and into the dining room. I’ll hire a professional to do it right with the router in a new location sometime after the remodel. The internet cable used to come through the mudroom area which now will be part of the new laundry room.

++ All cabinets emptied (but one) with the contents donated, stored, or organized to be accessible.

++ Cabinet knobs removed and bagged. The original knobs were a gold finish that didn’t age well. Same for the light fixtures. About a decade ago I replaced the cabinet knobs with brushed nickel ones as an upgrade. They were probably $3 each and there are maybe 20 of them so I figure that someone else might use them.

++ Setting up the dining room to be our temporary kitchen. This came together fairly well though we keep conking our heads on the hanging chandelier since it doesn’t have a table under it now. This included moving the refrigerator which is the one appliance that we are keeping.

++ Bought paint & hardware for the new laundry door. The contractor said that he is going to focus on the kitchen first and then move to the laundry. He wanted that interior door to be ordered so he can close off the laundry I think while we start using the kitchen.

++ Stocked paper plates, bowls, plastic cups, and utensils.

I considered putting a post on Nextdoor for our cabinets in case someone could use them in a garage, shed, or workshop. DH talked me out of it. He said that getting them down intact would be more work for the contractor and if I asked the recipient to take them down, he could damage the wall and cause more work for the contractor instead of less. They are 20+ years old and weren’t good quality to begin with so I let that idea go. I just hate to waste. I did decide though to take those knobs off.

Tomorrow the dumpster is scheduled to arrive and so are the cabinets. The new laundry door has already been delivered. The contractor mentioned that he’ll be going through each of the cabinets to make sure they are what we ordered and that they aren’t damaged. (He’s super detailed.) That way we have time to reorder if something isn’t right. The cabinets will be stored in the garage until they are needed. The tile and some leftover cabinet trim from the last corner are already there.

our temporary kitchen